Creator of the Month: Jeff McComsey

The idea behind AWA is that by putting creators first, we all benefit. Our tagline says it all: “Where the best creators do their best work, for you.” We think the quality of our original stories backs that up, and our fans, critics, and the industry seem to agree with us.

Our “Creator of the Month” program lets us spotlight a different writer, artist, colorist, letterer or more each month, allowing you to get a glimpse into what makes them tick. (What’s more, you may ask? As you may know, AWA is venturing into film and TV, so you may just see a director or other movie auteur show up on these pages over time, too!)

Creator of the Month – March
Jeff McComsey
Writer: Grendel, KY, Fourth Man, Little Black Book
Follow Jeff on Instagram @mccomseycomics

What is your favorite comic character or fictional character of all time? Why?
My favorite fictional character is George Smiley of John le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (and others). I like Smiley because he’s a chubby bespectacled professorial type, which I am too, and have always appreciated the representation.

Who most influenced you in the world of comics?
Tim Truman. He taught a few comic classes at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design and was the first professional comic artist/writer I ever met. In his classes I saw my first comic scripts as well as my first experience with actual original comic art. That would have been enough, but Tim also brought in a ton of European comics I had never even heard of before. Artists like Hugo Pratt, Alphonso Font, and Domingo Mandrafina. It started my love of those guys and that had a profound effect on the types of comics I read, write, and draw.

Who most influenced you outside of the world of comics?
I think Quentin Tarantino’s movies were a big influence on the stories I like to tell. Pulp Fiction came out when I was maybe 15, and it blew my mind. Primarily, I think it was the idea of telling a whole story about a pair of characters who in most movies would just be the guys standing around looking tough. I had a sense then that this was a radical approach to storytelling (at least in movies). I rewatch it from time to time and it still inspires and surprises me. I also still like Surf Rock and I’m pretty sure it’s because of the soundtrack.

Tell me about your favorite story/panel/art page from an AWA series you’ve worked on.
There’s a great splash page Felipe and Marco really nailed in the end of issue 2. Two characters are watching a car burning in the middle of the desert. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I love how the scene is set and plays out.

If you were a comic book character, would you rather be the hero or the villain? And why?
Villain for sure. They get to change occasionally. Heroes don’t get to do that.

What’s your favorite comic book or graphic novel?
This changes weekly, but right now it’s Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo.

What’s your favorite moment in comics ever?
The entire run of Guy Davis’s Marquis.

What’s your favorite comic book genre?
Crime comics and spy comics are my favorites. I am also a total mark for non-fiction comics.

Would you rather be invisible or have the ability to fly?
The ability to fly for sure. I hate having to look for parking,

Do you think you could survive in a zombie apocalypse?
Absolutely not, but I’d give it a shot.

Do you listen to music while you’re creating?
While I’m drawing it’s either music, an audio book, or a movie in the background. For writing I like anything without lyrics.

What is your favorite song or band?
This also changes weekly, but right now it’s the hillbilly Shakespeare, Mr. Hiram, “Hank” Williams singing “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive.”

What is the best advice you ever got?
“Nothing recedes like success.” I saw this hand painted on a sign in an art show 20 years ago and it has always stuck with me. Sort of like “glory fades” and all that, so don’t get cocky. I also say this when anyone points out my receding hairline.

Dog person, cat person, or…?
I like both cats and dogs, but currently have neither.

Where is your happy place?
Down in my studio, writing or drawing something, listening to family running around upstairs.

Tell us one of your guilty pleasures.
Black lager.

If you were stranded on an island with any 3 people — real or fictional, living or dead — who would you pick?
Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe, and Christopher Walken. If we got off the island, we could make a movie out of it where the guys play each other instead of themselves. I play myself. It’s going to be called, “I WAS IN THAT!”

What’s the last movie you watched?
The Pope of Greenwich Village

What’s the last comic you read?
Last on His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century. An OGN by Youssef Daoudi & Adrian Matejka.

What is your favorite type of pizza/pizza topping?
Mushrooms and anchovies. As you can imagine, this one is usually enjoyed every great once in a while and alone.

If you could have anything in the world for a last meal, what would it be?
Pop rocks and a Coke.

What do you want fans to know about you? (Or any other question you’d like to answer that we haven’t asked!)
That in addition to writing, I also draw comics. In fact I drew comics before I wrote them professionally. It’s one of the bigger influences on my writing. It helps me to understand the visual balance between your panels and the text of the spoken word in a script. I’d like to think drawing comic has helped me to also better understand when and how the art needs to come to the forefront of the story and when it needs to simply support the dialogue between characters. The give and take of that and how to give a moment a moment.